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Plan to teach both English and Spanish to Morgan County first-graders progresses

Could start with 50 first-grade students in fall 2017

By Jenni Grubbs

Times Staff Writer

Posted:
02/19/2017 07:48:32 PM MST

As of next school year, Morgan County Re-3 School District could offer a special program that even is quite novel in far larger school district.

A dual-language immersion program would allow some of the younger students to learn in both English and Spanish, and it is closer to being a reality for 50 Re-3 first-grade students in 2017-18.

This program would still require formal approval by the Re-3 Board of Education, but after a presentation from the exploratory committee and superintendent it sounded like the board members were excited for the possibility of creating it and offering it in the district.

How it works

The way it would work is the 50 first-grade students selected for the program in 2017-18 would start with classes taught in both English and Spanish, with half the school day focused on learning in each language.

The following year, a second-grade dual-language section would be added, and so on in following years, adding a dual-language class in the next grade, according to Re-3 Superintendent Ron Echols.

"Students will learn to communicate in Spanish as the years go on," said Stacey Gorman, a current teacher at Green Acres Elementary who was on the exploratory committee. "Basically, immersion education is bilingual instruction at its best. Immersion is how we all learn our native language."

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And this is a program that will be open to all parents to apply for their students to be in, regardless of their achievement levels or current language skills, she said.

"Dual language is not just for English language learners or gifted and talented students," Gorman said. "It's for all students."

But it will have a limited number openings, likely capped at 50 seats for first grade in its first year. And it could wind up being a lottery system that decides which students will get those seats, depending upon how many parents want to commit their young children to such a program, according to Echols.

It is a program that has demonstrated results of students developing greater listening and higher-level learning skills, as well as problem-solving and creative thinking skills, in schools where it has been in place for some time, according to Gorman and Re-3 Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Assessment Rena Frasco.

Parents' perspective

Adriana Villalobos and Allison Howe were two parents who were on the exploratory committee, and they also spoke to the school board about what they had learned and were hearing from other parents.

"We held two informational sessions on Jan. 16 for parents," Villalobos said. "We sent surveys out to all (preschool) parents and received 75 back. Of them, 73 were interested. We asked the parents to commit, and a majority answered yes to a long-term commitment" to the program.

She said she would like to be able to get her own son in such a program.

"As a parent of a kindergartner, I want them to think learning a second language is valuable," Villalobos said.

Howe said she currently has a child in kindergarten and a toddler.

"I would love for them to be able to participate in this and be part of the global community," she said. Her daughter, Adele, "knows a couple Spanish phrases and she lights up" when she gets to use them with others who speak that language. "It creates a cultural bridge and good for the whole family."

Howe said she hopes the school board moves forward with setting up the dual-language immersion program.

"This is the type of program that will set our district apart," she said.

Faculty concerns

Frasco said she had visited every district school and presented about the possibility of this program starting up next school year.

"The majority of staff members are very excited," she said.

But there were questions that arose, including what the programming and curriculum model of half-and-half language instruction would look like and whether there would be the staffing required to build the program up a grade level each year.

Frasco acknowledged these concerns. With the curriculum, the district could use an already-established program for this instead of having to start from scratch, she said. For staffing, "it's a challenge of relentless pursuit," but that is "no different" for recruiting educators than it is for other specialty programs or classes.

The dual-language immersion program, which could grow by a grade level each of the following four to 12 years, would take a commitment by the school district to professional development, Frasco said, but that comes with any new program.

Something else that still has to be developed, she told the school board, will be the proficiency targets in both languages.

School board concerns

The school board members also were worried about costs for the new program.

Frasco said it would cost about $7,000 to $8,000 more for the "very specific" dual language arts materials, but the math curriculum costs were already built into the budget since it would only be a different program within the current provider.

Echols pointed out that if the school district is able to attract more students from outside Re-3 because of offering a dual-language immersion program, it would more than pay for the entire start-up costs of the program.

"I have no doubt this program will pay for itself" in coming years, he said.

Getting it going

If the school board approves everything involved with starting up the program, then Frasco would need to have more specifics ready to share with parents about "what students would be doing in these classrooms and how we would monitor achievement and progress."

But the recruitment of teachers for getting it started also would have to happen, she said.

And then there would be the selection of the students who would be in the program.

"Next year, it would be one section of 50 students, with 25 in each class," Frasco said. "It would have to be a lottery system" to decide, depending on the number applicants.

"We may have more, so we would discuss having one section versus two," Echols said. "We know that there's going to be more than 50. That's what I'm expecting."

Using a lottery system to award the seats in the program would be a common way school districts handle that issue, the superintendent said.

And he knows that getting this program going will come with challenges.

"It doesn't matter when we start," he said. "We're always going to have bumps in the road."

Among superintendent's goals

Creating a dual-language immersion program like this in Re-3 is something Echols has been eyeing for some time.

Starting it with first-graders was not his original goal, but it was what would make sense for getting it going in this school district, Echols said.

"We're in a unique program with Sherman (Early Childhood Center)," he said, pointing to "logistical issues with trying to incorporate it there next year."

That school, which houses kindergarten classes and the various preschool programs, currently is out of space.

But he does see the possibility of making a dual-language immersion kindergarten section happen there in future years.

"We will sit down with (Sherman Principal) Debra (Lee) and the teachers and figure it out for the following year," Echols said of the 2018-19 school year. "The reality is we're not prepared to start at Sherman next year. We can do first grade."

And the superintendent said he was serious about it being able to start next school year.

"I would not be coming to the board if I didn't feel like we had everything in place to make it a viable program," Echols said.

The school board did ask Frasco for more data about the benefits of such dual-language immersion programs, which she said she would provide.

Echols said the initial commitment he would be asking the board to make would be to provide this program in first through fifth grades, with kindergarten and older grades to be considered down the road.

"We will have the middle school program in place once these kids get there," he said.

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